To show you the lovely weather in Mesa, Ariz., host of the Family History Expo whence I just returned, here’s a photo of Friday morning’s 8 a.m. opening session:

(Warm sunshine probably isn't a big deal to everybody who's reading this, but it is for someone who just came home to overcast skies and temperatures in the 30s.) That’s Don R. Anderson, senior vice president at FamilySearch, giving tips on finding ancestors in a digital world.

After snapping this photo, I raced to the Family Tree Magazine booth to prepare for the onslaught of researchers stopping to take magazines and handouts, start or renew subscriptions, and purchase our State Research Guides CD for their very own.

I had a great time meeting family historians from Mesa and beyond, including some (hi, Happy Dae!) whose posts I’ve read here and on our Forum. One visitor’s dad went to high school with my dad.

Keeping my sugar intake nice and steady, I took a Hershey’s Kisses tour of the exhibit hall (many exhibitors tempt conference-goers with candy). I scored a limited-edition macadamia nut kiss, sold only in Hawaii, from Ohana Software, makers of Family Insight.

Sacha, my neighbor over in the Genetree booth, brought cake to celebrate Genetree’s first birthday.

Some of the newer genealogy exhibitors I met on my tour include:

Photoloom, a site where you and your family can organize pictures around a photo-based family tree

Echo Media, a service for digitizing slides, prints, film and video- and audiotapes